-LRB- EW.com -RRB- -- Pay no attention to the title : Martin Scorsese 's new shoot-the-works epic `` The Wolf of Wall Street '' is n't about rapacious stockbrokers or shady financial shenanigans . It 's about drugs . Lots and lots of drugs .

From its twisted opening scene , where a floor of coked-up boiler-room meatheads toss dwarfs for bacchanalian sport , the feverishly paced film is hell-bent on making the audience feel like they just snorted a Belushian mountain of blow . You can practically feel your teeth grinding to dust . As with any high , though , it also does n't know when to stop .

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Based on Wall Street evil genius Jordan Belfort 's 2007 memoir about getting insanely rich from conning investors , `` Wolf '' stars Leonardo DiCaprio as an amoral Horatio Alger with a rolled C-note up his nose . He gives a hell of a performance that 's electrifyingly loose , perversely funny , and dripping with jerk charisma . Like Ray Liotta in `` GoodFellas , '' DiCaprio 's character explains through wise-guy voice-overs how he pulled off one of the most brazen and boneheaded scams in history .

The film chronicles Belfort 's improbable ascent from eager brokerage-house trainee -LRB- under the gonzo tutelage of a scene-stealing Matthew McConaughey -RRB- to Black Monday casualty to silver-tongued swindler , cold-calling suckers to peddle them worthless stocks out of a former auto-body garage .

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He proves to be such a born salesman that in no time he and his merry band of macho Bayside , Queens , goombahs -LRB- led by a terrific Jonah Hill as Belfort 's bucktoothed loose-cannon sidekick -RRB- have more money than they know what to do with . So they blow it on Bond-villain yachts , trophy wives , and insane quantities of coke .

Soon the firm becomes a millionaire-minting mecca , attracting both wannabe Gordon Gekkos and the attention of a hungry FBI agent -LRB- Kyle Chandler -RRB- who drools over Belfort 's nouveau-riche toys while vowing to bring the drug-fueled Caligula down . It says something about DiCaprio 's oily charm that you almost want him to get away with it .

As bad judgment and paranoia take hold and the high rollers get careless about stashing their loot in Swiss banks , `` Wolf 's '' pace never stops panting . And you ca n't help but be amazed that it 's the work of a 71-year-old . After five decades behind the camera , Scorsese still works with the frantic energy of a man who 's got something to prove .

But the director also has to know that his film could have used some trimming . Clocking in at just a minute under three hours , `` Wolf '' starts to repeat itself as we 're given one scene after another of men behaving badly . If you 're feeling charitable , you could argue that the movie 's running time is meant to mirror its theme of excess . Then again , you could also say that it 's just way too long . There 's a reason roller-coaster rides last for only a few minutes .

Still , Scorsese has pulled off something tricky with `` Wolf '' : He 's given us a thrilling cautionary tale about a guy who never for a second seems the slightest bit sorry for what he 's done . If anything , he just had the bad luck to get caught .

Grade : B +

See the original story at EW.com .

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`` Wolf of Wall Street '' is a feverishly paced film

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Leo DiCaprio gives a strong performance as Wall Street crook Jordan Belfort

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The film could 've used a stronger edit

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Still , director Martin Scorsese pulled off something tricky with ` Wolf '